Managing the domestic spread of harmful marine organisms. Part B: Statutory framework and analysis of options

Amendments to the Biosecurity Act 1993 (BSA) in November 2012 created more scope for measures to manage the spread of harmful marine organisms in New Zealand. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) commissioned the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the Cawthron Institute (Cawthron) to undertake a review of practical measures for reducing the spread of potentially harmful marine organisms via human transport pathways within New Zealand, and policy options for promoting the implementation of risk reduction measures.

During two workshops held in Wellington in 2013, representatives of the aquaculture, commercial fishing, marine transport, mining and exploration, research and education, and sport and recreation pathways were invited to identify and discuss risk reduction options and potential barriers to their implementation. The aim was to engage industry, government, tangata whenua, councils, and other stakeholders in the development of a recommended package of measures and policies for reducing the domestic spread of marine pests within New Zealand.

The project resulted in two reports. A companion report (hereafter referred to as the 'Part A report') describes the nature of the biosecurity risk in six sectoral pathways, including how harmful species can be spread within each pathway ('modes of infection', Table 1), and identifies practical measures that could be taken to reduce this risk. This report assesses policy options and presents recommendations for six different modes of infection across the pathways. This Executive Summary provides an overview of both reports and follows the structure of Part A, presenting findings by sector, whereas the main body of this Part B report presents findings by mode of infection.